Henry Rollins Slams Robin Williams For Committing Suicide: 'How could you do that to your children?'

New York Daily News ^ | Friday, August 22, 2014 | eTHAN sACKS

[nickcarraway]

Henry Rollins slams Robin Williams for committing suicide: 'How in the heck could you possibly do that to your children?'

The hardcore rocker and spoken word artist doesn't mince his words when it comes to Williams' Aug. 11 suicide, suggesting that the 40,000 people who commit suicide each year in this country 'are 40,000 people who blew it.'

Hardcore rocker Henry Rollins is being branded as a punk for criticizing Robin Williams in his weekly newspaper column.

The former Black Flag frontman and self-proclaimed Williams fan slammed the late comic actor for committing suicide and "traumatizing" his three children in the process.

"I simply cannot understand how any parent could kill themselves," Rollins wrote in his Thursday piece for LA Weekly's West Coast Sound Blog.

""How in the hell could you possibly do that to your children....choosing to kill yourself, rather than to be there for that child, is every shade of awful, traumatic and confusing."

Williams committed suicide Aug. 11 in his California home, leaving behind three adult children and millions of distraught fans. The 63-year-old actor, who won an Academy Award for his turn in "Good Will Hunting," had suffered from depression and addiction for years — and had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

"I think as soon as you have children, you waive your right to take your own life," Rollins wrote. "No matter what mistakes you make in life, it should be your utmost goal not to traumatize your kids. "

But Rollins, whose biggest hit is an empowerment dirge titled “Low Self Opinion,” didn't stop there, saving his harshest words for all tortured artists who chose to end their lives prematurely .

Pictured in 2004 are, from right, Robin Williams, daughter Zelda, wife Marcia, and sons Cody and Zac.

"I no longer take this person seriously," Rollins wrote about artists who took their own lives. "I may be able to appreciate what he or she did artistically but it's impossible to feel bad for them."

And taking that logic further: "Almost 40,000 people a year kill themselves in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," he added. In my opinion, that is 40,000 people who blew it."

Those words incited plenty of reaction on social media, particularly from critics who felt Rollins was the one who blew it.

"Henry Rollins threatening to stop taking suicides seriously will be a serious disincentive for the four people who still take him seriously," tweeted music writer Sam Adams.

Rollins’ flap comes after Kiss frontman Gene Simmons drew boos for harsh comments about suicide.

Rollins' controversial diatribe comes on the heels of a major backlash over Kiss bassist Gene Simmons' controversial comments on depression.

"Drug addicts and alcoholics are always, 'the world is a harsh place.' My mother was in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, I don't want to hear X all about 'the world is a harsh place,'" Simmons told the music site Songsfact.com. ""And for a putz, 20-year-old kid to say, 'I'm depressed, I live in Seattle,' X you, then kill yourself."

Though the interview had initially been published two weeks before Williams' suicide, it went viral after the tragedy drew a spotlight on depression.

Simmons later apologized for his ill-timed remarks.

[patriot08]

“There is often a revenge aspect to suicide.
It makes no sense but it’s true.”

The way he did it..it was like he wanted to punish or get back at someone. (looping a belt around a door knob and just lying down..sweet Jesus)

I read that he was very depressed about his TV show being cancelled.
He shouldn’t have tried for a new show.
He had the reputation as a comic great and a good actor.
He had an Oscar.
He had a family and all the money they could spend.